A leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from Kerala has been arrested for the murder of two Youth Congress workers in Kasaragod district, the police said on Tuesday. CPM local committee member A Peetambaran has also been suspended from the party, the CPM said.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao ended over two months of speculation and expanded his two-member cabinet today with the induction of ten members, including six new faces. However, two big names of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi were left out. They are KCR's son KT Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao.

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu announced its alliance with PMK ahead of Lok Sabha polls likely in May. The announcement came hours before the scheduled visit of union minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyalto Chennai to firm up alliance with AIADMK.

In a shocking incident, two girls were expelled from a government school in Andhra Pradesh for reportedly being drunk in class. The Class 9 students had reportedly carried soft drinks mixed with alcohol in the class room and were sipping from the bottle while the teacher was in the class.

Sterlite Copper on Monday said it would go through in detail the Supreme Court order, setting aside the NGT directive to reopen its plant at Tuticorin and consult its legal team before deciding on the future course of action.

Despite repeated warning letters from her own congregation, Sister Lucy, a 53-year-old nun from Kerala's Wayanad, remains undeterred. The last warning letter she received from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, which comes under the Catholic Church, was on February 2.

The controversial Sterlite copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu, closed after protests last year over alleged pollution, will stay shut, the Supreme Court said today. The court was hearing the Vedanta group's request for a direction to Tamil Nadu's pollution control body to implement an order by the National Green Tribunal which allowedthe copper plant to reopen, in a case that is seen as politically sensitive.

Leader of Opposition and YSR Congress party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday described the ''Backward Class'' as ''Backbone Class'' and promised them several welfare measures including an annual budgetary provision of Rs 15,000 crore, if his party was voted to power in Andhra Pradesh in the coming assembly elections.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy today rejected allegations that a controversial tape supposedly containing a conversation between BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa and the son of a Janata Dal (Secular) legislator is fake. Mimicry is not easy to do, he commented.